


Strangers Like Me

by alexandermylove



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat, Tarzan (1999)
Genre: Inspired by Tarzan, Jane!Laurent, M/M, Tarzan!Damen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22760617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexandermylove/pseuds/alexandermylove
Summary: Captive Prince Tarzan! AU
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	Strangers Like Me

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Captive Prince and I love Tarzan so I figured why not smash the two together? Anyway I don't know if I should just leave it as a one-shot or if you guys would be interested in reading more chapters that follow the entire movie so you gotta let me know in the comments!

Damen had never heard a sound like this before. 

And from the look of the other gorillas around him, it seemed like it was new to everyone else as well. Well, everyone except for Kerchak whose face seemed incapable of showing any emotion that wasn’t anger, disgust, or annoyance. 

Damen had really thought he was finally going to be able to worm something else out of the leader of their family after taking down that leopard. He had wanted Kerchak to be happy or maybe even a little bit proud of him. That was the one thing Damen longed for more than anything, even more than being accepted by everyone else. 

Kerchak was the closest thing he had ever had to a father but the gorilla had never acknowledged him as his son. He had wanted this to be the moment. His entire body had frozen except for his heart which was pounding away in his ears as he waited for Kerchak to say something, anything. 

Then the noise had gone off and Kerchak’s face morphed back into the same cold mask Damen had always known. 

Kerchak had told the family to head out but then the noise went off again. And again. Damen couldn’t just ignore it. He needed to know where it was coming from. He would be able to find his family, no matter where they settled but what if he never heard the noise again? Would he spend his entire life regretting never finding out? 

Before he could think, he was moving toward the noise. Swinging through the familiar vines and gliding down the same trees he had been for most of his life. Nothing ever changed in the jungle really. Except for the fights that broke out when predators threatened their family, day to day life was pretty monotonous. Not that he was complaining. He loved his home and his family, even Kerchak, but the idea of something new was too good to pass up. 

He landed in the general area he thought the sound had come from and came face to face with unfamiliar looking tracks. They looked like ovals broken into two halves with no toe or claw prints. Lying next to the prints was some kind of smooth round object the same color as the leopard’s pelt. Was this some kind of animal dropping? It didn’t smell or feel like it but maybe it was from whatever animal was making the sound. 

Speaking of the sound, it went off again, louder, and probably only a few feet away. He climbed back into the trees and followed the sound until he was right above whatever creature this was. As it walked, it stayed hidden behind the thick foliage and Damen followed, waiting for the moment that it would finally appear. Growing impatient, he sped up to pass it and hopefully catch a view of it from his position high up in the trees. 

The sound went off again and something buzzed right past his ear, hitting the plant next to him. Maybe the animal was throwing things but Damen still didn’t know what it could be. It wasn’t any kind of rock or dirt cluster. 

Two more objects flew toward him at high speed and he contorted his body to avoid being hit in the head or legs. From his awkward position, he saw the animal slice through the thick green to reveal-

A creature that looked just like him. 

Well, not exactly. This creature had different colored fur and was covered in strange pieces of cloth. But still, it looked more like him than any other animal he had ever encountered. It felt like the air had just been knocked out of him or like he had just been trampled by elephants. 

He had no idea there were others like him. He had always assumed he was the only one. 

But now there was at least one other. 

The foliage parted again to reveal two other creatures that looked more like him than his family ever had. They were both pretty in a way Damen didn’t even have words to describe.

He had so many questions. 

How did they stand on only two legs like that? What were these strange coverings they were wearing? Why couldn’t he see any of their skin except for their faces? Or maybe the coverings were part of their skin? Or growing out of it like feathers on a bird? _Was he a bird?_ He and his friends had never been able to figure out what he was but it seemed like whatever these strangers were, he was one of them. Why had he never met them before? Where had they been his entire life?

The creatures were making strange noises he couldn't understand. He was well versed in plenty of animal languages, whichever ones had been willing to talk to him he had taken the time to learn from them. But this was different. Was this how he was supposed to sound? Where had they learned? Who had they learned from? 

He tried to get closer without being seen. He managed to sneak up behind the first one to get in a good smell before disappearing into the tree line again. The creatures seemed to be excited about something. He ducked out again to see that they were gesturing to his family's old nests. He didn’t see what the big deal was. He had seen plenty of nests in his life. They had never really seemed all that special to him. 

What strange creatures. 

After talking for a bit more, the third one walked off and Damen found himself following it. It was the prettiest one with a flowing golden mane even longer than his own. It’s coverings-or skin? was a mix of white and bright blue from the very top of its neck all the way to its waist and then everything southward was black. The creature sat down and Damen wasn’t completely sure what it was doing but he was content to just watch. 

He would have been fine sitting there and just watching for hours if not for the horde of baboons that surrounded it, looking menacing and borderline murderous. The creature tried to back away but it was not moving fast enough. Before Damen could fully process what his body was doing, he was grabbing onto a vine and swinging after them as fast as he could. He could barely see but still managed to grab onto the bright blue- _he really hoped it wasn’t skin_ \- covering at the creature's waist and then they were soaring through the trees together. 

The creature made noises of astonishment, seeming to be in shock for a second before managing to tilt its head up to look at him. They locked eyes for the briefest of moments before its eyes widened and it let out a loud scream. 

Turns out screams were a universal language. 

Damen found a tree to set them down in, landing with the creature in his arms. Its skin was a bright pink color, almost like a flamingo as it struggled to get out of his arms. Before Damen had any time to react, the creature was jumping back into his arms at the sound of the still approaching baboons, yelling something that Damen couldn’t understand but had an urgent tone. 

Then they were jumping and spinning and flipping around, always coming _this close_ to being caught before he was finally able to lose them. Only for the tree they were on to choose this precise moment to lose a branch and almost crush them to death if he didn’t crowd them against the trunk. 

Panting, Damen moved away from the creature and sat down on what was left of the branch, trying to catch his breath. After his heart stopped pounding in his chest, he looked at the creature again and tried to make sense of its chattering but no matter how hard he tried, it all just sounded like gibberish to him. After a while, he decided to just block it out and move closer. 

The creature stuck out a leg and Damen saw that it had toes just like his. He reached out to touch them and they were smooth and soft. There was no sign of scars or calluses, they didn’t even seem to be able to bend at the knuckles. How peculiar. 

The creature was making a sound that was almost like laughter. Did that mean it was enjoying this? Damen took the opportunity to run his hand up the length of its leg, over the fabric-up close he could see that it was fabric all along- until he got to the knee and the creature was suddenly pushing him away. 

He wasn’t dissuaded, he crept back up until their faces were close enough to touch. So he did. He reached out to stroke the creature’s pink cheek and marveled at how soft it was. He wanted to touch its mane next but before he could, its hand lashed out. 

It wasn’t hard to grab onto its wrist which was also covered in cloth. He could tell due to the small hole at the tip of one of the white fingers that revealed skin much more similar to his own. He carefully pulled the fabric off until he could see the creature’s palm. It even had similar markings to his own. He pressed his hand up to the creature’s and his fingers straightened in a way that they hadn’t it what felt like forever. His fingers were longer and darker but they were the same. _They were the same._

He just had to check one more thing. 

He leaned down so his head could rest against the creature's chest and there it was: 

a heartbeat. 

It was fast and strong like a hummingbird but a heartbeat nonetheless. 

He had to show it he had one too. He carefully cradled its face and brought it to his own chest. The creature patted him in what he assumed to be understanding. He really hoped the creature understood what this meant. 

_They were the same._ Two eyes. Two hands. A nose. A heartbeat. But it also went even further than that. His mother had taught him years ago that they were the same even if he wasn’t a gorilla but he and this creature? They were the same in a completely different way. They were the same species (whatever that species was) and he felt his heart expanding in happiness.

Finally. Finally, he wasn’t alone. This creature was just like him. There were more beings just like him!

He wished they spoke the same language. He wished he was able to share his joy with this stranger that was just like him. But he couldn’t- at least not yet. He remembered the last thing this creature had said and tried to repeat it as best as he could:

“Very nice.”

The creature looked at him in surprise and began to chatter again. There were too many sounds, and he couldn’t keep up, he didn’t know what to say. He reached out a finger to the other's lips to silence them. 

He could at least try to introduce himself. 

_“I am Damen.”_ It was in gorilla but it would have to do. He assumed that it would be the closest to whatever this creature spoke. He could try again in snake or elephant or hippo or a number of other languages but he would at least start in his native tongue. 

The creature looked at him in confusion so he tried again. 

_“Da-men.”_ This time it was slower and he put more emphasis on each syllable, trying to make the creature understand. 

“Damen?” It was the first thing Damen had understood since they had met. 

He smiled and nodded encouragingly. He leaned forward, eager to keep communicating. 

_“Now you.”_

The creature said a name and Damen repeated it to make sure he got it right. “ _Oh-I-See?”_ It was strange but he did not want to judge. He pointed back to himself. _“Damen.”_ Then pointed to the other. _“Oh-I-See.”_

The creature waved its hands and moved to correct him. “No. No. No. No. No. Hmm. I’m Laurent.” 

Damen made sure to repeat it back as perfectly as he could, mimicking the hand gestures and everything. Perhaps they were a species that communicated with their hands as well as sounds? He did not care what he had to do as long as he would be able to eventually talk to this creature. 

The creature waved its hands again and shook its head. How was he wrong this time? Had he accidentally made the wrong sound? 

The creature pointed at itself. “Laurent.” It pointed at Damen and said his name then pointed back at itself and looked at him expectantly. 

Oh. Now Damen understood. 

Damen reached out to cup the other’s cheeks between his hands, “Laurent.” 


End file.
